Room-Temperature Liquid-Metal Coated Zn Electrode for Long Life Cycle Aqueous Rechargeable Zn-Ion Batteries

• Published in: Batteries (Basel) Vol. 8; no. 11; p. 208
• Main Authors: Kidanu, Weldejewergis Gebrewahid, Yang, Hyewon, Park, Saemin, Hur, Jaehyun, Kim, Il Tae
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.11.2022
• Subjects: Aqueous electrolytes; aqueous zinc ion battery; Batteries; Carbon black; Coated electrodes; Composition; Design and construction; Electrochemical analysis; Electrodes; Electrolytes; Electrolytic cells; Energy storage; Hydrogen evolution; Liquid metals; liquid-metal coating; liquid-metal nanoparticle coating; Materials; Metal coatings; Morphology; Nanoparticles; Nucleation; Plating; Protective coatings; Rechargeable batteries; Room temperature; Scanning electron microscopy; Spectrum analysis; Spin coating; Storage batteries; surface engineering; Surfactants; Zinc; Zinc compounds; South Korea; United States > US; Japan; Germany
• ISSN: 2313-0105; 2313-0105
• DOI: 10.3390/batteries8110208

Aqueous rechargeable zinc-ion batteries (ARZIBs) are potential candidates for grid-scale energy storage applications. In addition to its reversible chemistry in aqueous electrolytes, Zn metal is stable in water and air. However, there are critical challenges, such as non-uniform plating, hydrogen evolution, corrosion, and the formation of a passivation layer, which must be addressed before practical applications. In this study, the surface of Zn metal was coated with room-temperature bulk liquid-metal and liquid-metal nanoparticles to facilitate the uniform plating of Zn–ions during cycling. A simple probe ultrasonication method was used to prepare the liquid-metal nanoparticles, and a nanoparticle suspension film was formed through spin coating. At an areal capacity and current density of 0.5 mAh cm−2 and 0.5 mA cm−2, respectively, symmetric cells composed of bare Zn metal electrodes were prone to short-circuiting after ~45 h of deposition/striping cycles. However, under the same operating conditions, symmetric cells employing the room-temperature liquid-metal-coated electrodes operated stably for more than 500 h. Compared to the symmetric cell with bare Zn, the symmetric cell with the bulk liquid-metal coated electrode exhibited a significant reduction in the initial nucleation barrier, with respective values of 113.2 and 10.1 mV. Electrochemical characterization of practical full cells also showed significant improvements in the capacity and cycling performance derived from the room-temperature liquid-metal coating.